Releasing their transcending track ‘Vivi’ via Monstercat, the duo Elevven rise from the ashes of a turbulent two years for live gigs. ‘Vivi’ takes light and levitating electronic textures, leaving us feeling relaxed and somewhat at ease about whatever is rattling the brainwaves. The duo consists of pals and music producers Shahin and Swapneel who produced this track as a tribute to their family and community who have constantly been supporting their musical endeavors, now more than ever. Now that festivals are picking up again, the duo has also lit up the stage once again, performing at the TranceFamilySF Festival earlier this month. 

We chatted with Elevven, who shared their future plans. 

Tell us about your earliest musical memory?

Earliest all-time musical memory…buying The Lion King soundtrack on CD! (No, really).

The very first electronic music memory I have is hearing two particular songs: Andain’s ‘Beautiful Things’ and Motorcycle’s ‘As The Rush Comes’, both featured on Tiesto’s Nyana compilation. These two records served as the gateway into dance music for me and I became obsessed.

At what point in your life did you have that moment where you said to yourself “This is it. This is the type of music I want to create?”

It must have been around the time that I began diving deeper into the old trance compilations. I grew up as a rock/metalhead, and early vocal trance became my gateway. Soon after discovering the genre, I was introduced to the early Anjunabeats compilations, and I was blown away by the musicality and the parallels shared in that music with progressive rock.

Please list some of the most influential albums on your creative outlook and output:

Above & Beyond – Tri-State

Tiesto – Nyana

Anjunabeats 100 – From Goa to Rio

Thrice – The Artist in the Ambulance

Dream Theater – Images & Words

What key pieces of gear/software are you using to define your sound?

As a duo, we tend to use all different kinds of gear, and we make life difficult for ourselves. Neel uses Ableton, and I (Shahin) use Cubase. That being said, we’re pretty familiar with all DAWs and all software.

I also have a Dave Smith Prophet Rev 2 that I use for certain sounds, and when I can bust it out, my Moog Sub 37!

What inspires you outside of music? What do you turn to when the creative well runs a little low?

I try to take an extended break from working on a song and come back with fresh ears. This is really hard to force myself to do at times because I keep telling myself that I “must keep going”. Sadly, that’s rarely true and sometimes you need to pull yourself away and come back with some fresh perspective (and maybe coffee).

What is your opinion on the ever spreading sub-genre vine? Are there too many? Do you think there’ s perhaps a sub-genre that doesn’t get the attention it deserves?

I actually think it’s fantastic seeing more and more ‘sub genres’ spring up, because these vines are beginning to get intermingled. We’re starting to see more techno influences come back into the trance world – and vice versa! Much of the melodic and deep house music that is resonating with folks also brings over those trance-inspired elements. I think it’s fantastic.

Studio work and music creation or performing and interacting with a live audience, what do you prefer?

This is a toughie. I think they both scratch very different itches for me, but if I absolutely had to pick one, it would be music production (or at least, those ‘fun’ moments of production!) There’s nothing more satisfying than wrapping up a song and being immensely proud of how it sounds.

Sometimes it takes a while, but the payoff is worth it.

As a music artist, it becomes apparent that there is a huge difference between art and the business. Is there anything about the music scene that you would personally change?

I feel it has become increasingly difficult (in some ways) for artists to make a living off of their music. There’s a continued reliance on live gigs to bring in any sort of income, and the fees offered in those gigs seem to be ever creeping lower.

Any new or upcoming artists on your radar? Who shouldn’t the world sleep on?

This past year has given us the opportunity to share the music from some up-and-coming artists that we love and really champion their music. Some notable examples that we’re huge fans of include Hausman and Movement Machina.

What can we expect from you in the near future? Any upcoming projects or gigs in the pipeline that you would like to tell us about?

We’ve just wrapped up a couple of remixes that were debuted at Above & Beyond’s recent ABGT450 gig, and ‘Vivi’ is our first official release under the Monstercat banner (although our history with Silk Music goes back 10 years!)

Lots of upcoming shows on the horizon as well, including Groove Cruise in early 2022.

One last thought to leave your fans with?

We’re eternally grateful to our fans and community that have helped us get through this past year. It’s been our biggest blessing and we love you guys!

‘Vivi’ features on the Spotify playlist HOUSE_GROUND.fm

Follow Elevven:

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Spotify

Named by Radio 1 Pete Tong as one of 2021’s ‘Future Stars’ and one of Billboard Dance ‘Emerging Artists’ to watch, the electronic duo TIBASKO has a bright future ahead of them in music production. Their latest offering ‘The One/ Let Me Tell You’ via Another Rhythm / Three Six Zero Recordings showcases the duo’s affinity for electronica on the song ‘Let Me Tell You’. The duo consists of Andy Bowden and Ken Petalcorin, who are both well-travelled and incorporate inspiration from these experiences into their sound.

We chatted with rising duo TIBASKO and get to learn more about them as a team.

Stream: TIBASKO

Tell us about your earliest musical memory?

Kanye West’s debut studio album College Dropout was all I was listening to on a family holiday to America when I was just 9. The tracks on that including ‘Spaceships’, ‘All Falls Down’ and ‘Jesus Walks’ would introduce me to a realm of music and sampling that I’d never thought of before. I didn’t truly appreciate the genius that is Kanye West until I was much older, but listening back gives me fond memories of my dad blasting that album in the car.

At what point in your life did you have that moment where you said to yourself “This is it. This is the type of music I want to create?”

Seeing Justice play at the Reading festival in 2012 solidified that I’d want to be a part of the dance music space in one way or another. It sparked a fascination with sounds, synths and melodies that I’d never appreciated before. Fast-forwarding to today and we take inspiration from the likes of Jon Hopkins, Bicep and Rival Consoles, creating beautiful and emotional dance music whilst maintaining a heavy driving beat is something we strive for in our music.

Please list some of the most influential albums on your creative outlook and output:

Tyler The Creator – Flowerboy

BICEP – BICEP

Rival Consoles – Persona

Chemical Brothers – Push The Button

Maribou State – Portraits

Nero – Welcome Reality

What key pieces of gear/software are you using to define your sound?

We’ve recently picked up a Behringer Odyssey that gives such an amazingly rich bass sound, we’re using it for a lot of our newer tracks, a staple for us as well as the Novation Peak as well as the Roland TR-8S for on the fly drums and samples.

What inspires you outside of music? What do you turn to when the creative well runs a little low?

I think inspiration can strike in all forms, art, design, culture. We like to travel quite a lot and have been all over the world individually, drawing upon cultures and lifestyles from across the globe and introducing that into our music.

I get a lot of inspiration in fashion and design.

What is your opinion on the ever spreading sub-genre vine? Are there too many? Do you think there’ s perhaps a sub-genre that doesn’t get the attention it deserves?

Genres are very misleading and ambiguous, good music is good music and I feel pigeon-holing tracks into certain preconceived genres is alien to me. Dark disco is something that I stumbled upon in Vietnam that needs more attention, amazing sounds.

Studio work and music creation or performing and interacting with a live audience, what do you prefer?

Normally I would say music creation, but given the fact that we’ve been locked up for so long, I’ll need to say performing. We’ve been craving a proper crowd for so long now!

As a music artist, it becomes apparent that there is a huge difference between the art and the business. Is there anything about the music scene that you would personally change?

100% that we should be giving equal opportunities to everyone wanting to get involved in music, it’s so easy to produce electronic music these days and everyone should have a chance to learn and be involved if that’s what they want to do.

Any new or upcoming artists on your radar? Who shouldn’t the world sleep on?

DELIRYA… amazing euphoric breaks and huge tracks from start to finish.

What can we expect from you in the near future? Any upcoming projects or gigs in the pipeline that you would like to tell us about?

We have a busy summer ahead of us including some international gigs. Closer to now we have Into The Woods festival and Detonate, as well as club nights for Good Life UK supporting heavy hitters like DJ Boring, Laurence Guy and O’Flynn.

One last thought to leave your fans with?

Stay saucy and keep supporting, we love you all x.

Follow TIBASKO:

 Facebook /  Twitter /  Instagram / TikTok

While we wait for this remix to be unveiled, we chatted with this dynamic team Mick Wilson & Dylan Debut a.k.a PaperMacheTiger.

Stream/Download: Way of Life

Tell us about your earliest musical memory?

All a bit hazy as music has been in my life from a very young age; playing the piano from very young, to listening to the radio, buying records. Showing my age here…

At what point in your life did you have that moment where you said to yourself “This is it. This is the type of music I want to create?”

Again, from a very young age. I was always into synthesisers and electronic synth music, so probably about the age of fourteen I started to explore this path and then it just grew from there.

Please list some of the most influential albums on your creative outlook and output:

Apex Twin Selected Ambient Works 85-92. I see this in a lot of listings when it comes to influential albums, but there is a reason for this.

Burial – Untrue

Quincy Jones – Michael Jackson Thriller

Radiohead – Kid A (any Radiohead album) truly groundbreaking band that creates music from all angles.

To be honest, it is very difficult to answer a question like this. We could talk for a week about the most influential albums that have helped define my journey through music; from Hip Hop, Electronica, Classical, pop, to stuff that is completely out there and random.

What key pieces of gear/software are you using to define your sound?

We use a lot of Moog hardware as well as Roland and Korg, however, we like to run these through additional hardware like FX units, amps and pedals in order to create something slightly more unique. We throw some things through Erika Synths Black Sequencer, this really does help to create some great soundscapes.

What inspires you outside of music? What do you turn to when the creative well runs a little low?

To be honest, everything inspires me; from day to day to film, to art, to books. Just getting out and about and observing, taking note of what is going on around yourself, the surroundings. All these things help to top up the creative well.

What is your opinion on the ever spreading sub-genre vine? Are there too many? Do you think there’ s perhaps a sub-genre that doesn’t get the attention it deserves?

Too many plain and simple/okay sub-genres and genres help to categorise a sound. However when it all starts getting silly and everything needs to be slotted into a sub-genre with every week something new pops out, it becomes all a little bit like The Emperor’s New Clothes. I suppose it feeds the demands for something new, inventing a new sub-genre to keep things appearing fresh and innovative.

Studio work and music creation or performing and interacting with a live audience, what do you prefer?

Depends on the day, at times I just love sitting in the studio and being creative from that side of things even if it is just playing with the machines moreover making a track. Other days it has to be interacting with a crowd, playing great records/music and getting a superb reaction. It all works together, this is what feeds the passion.

As a music artist, it becomes apparent that there is a huge difference between the art and the business. Is there anything about the music scene that you would personally change?

Greed across the industry full stop. And the wanting of instant fame. You have to be put into the scene, earn your stripes and through this equally, your hard work and efforts need to be recognised. An artist needs to be able to treat their craft as a way of life without having to worry about how to pay the bills,  and how to get on in the world. They should have the ability to earn from their creations. Greed is what drives a lot of the anguish as it all becomes about “the one” making the most money and not even looking to redistribute it in an even manner where everyone wins. We could look at the argument around streaming companies and the low royalty rates paid out to artists as an example. If the balance of distribution was better a lot more artists could sustain a way of life from their music. There really is enough for everyone in this pie.

Any new or upcoming artists on your radar? Who shouldn’t the world sleep on?

Tia Cousins. She is great, plays a diverse spread of underground music. Check her out for sure.

What can we expect from you in the near future? Any upcoming projects or gigs in the pipeline that you would like to tell us about?

We’ve got a whole load of stuff that will be hitting soon. We’ve got a collab with DJ Pierre. We are pretty excited about this coming out on his Afro Acid label. There is also new music coming through on Exit Planet Earth, RAWAX which explores other avenues of underground music. And we are also working on a new radio show for OpenLab – a super-diverse station based in Ibiza that really explores fresh music, with music discovery at its core.

One last thought to leave your fans with?

Always be true to the music, it is the music that drives the scene from the listeners to the creators.

Follow PaperMacheTiger:

Facebook / Instagram / Soundcloud

Paris based music duo Jaffna was established in 2014, and since then have made waves with their previous hit ‘Headlines’ which was also accompanied by a bold music video release featuring noteworthy BMX riders showing off their talent. Consisting of music producers and percussionists Bravin and Stan, this production team leave much to admire with one transcending melodic house banger after the next. When looking for inspiration the guys are known to be fuelled by travelling and the unique intricacies that exist in these experiences. Their new single ‘Oslo’ was written when Bravin and Stan spent one Christmas in Oslo years before. Listening to the track ‘Oslo’ one is immediately drawn to its mystery and uplifting soundscapes. 

We asked the guys the question on everyone’s mind, and that is why they released the track ‘Oslo’ years later? We find this out and more below.

Stream/Download: ‘Oslo’

Tell us about your earliest musical memory?

My first piano lesson as a child back in London :).

How did you guys meet and form Jaffna?

Bravin used to date Stan’s sister :), Jaffna was then formed on a family Christmas holiday to Norway.

At what point in your life did you have that moment where you said to yourself ,”This is it. This is the type of music I want to create?”

On our trip to Oslo! Where we created our latest single.

Please list some of the most influential albums on your creative outlook and output:

A.R Rahman (the artist as a whole), Bonobo, Kiasmos, Jon Hopkins.

What key pieces of gear/software are you using to define your sound?

A lot! It keeps changing, so it’s difficult to be precise :).We work on Ableton and mostly use software as opposed to hardware synths.

What inspires you outside of music? What do you turn to when the creative well runs a little low?

Films! We are cinephiles and love finding inspiration from images.

You previously mentioned that you wrote ‘Oslo’ years ago. Why have you decided to release it now?

The track wasn’t mature back then and lacked direction. We have reworked it since as we always had a special sentimental value attached to it.

What is your opinion on the ever spreading sub-genre vine? Are there too many? Do you think there’ s perhaps a sub-genre that doesn’t get the attention it deserves?

It’s a portal to new ideas and influences, and that is definitely a good thing.

Studio work and music creation or performing and interacting with a live audience, what do you prefer?

Bravin prefers studio work and Stan performing live!

As a music artist, it becomes apparent that there is a huge difference between the art and the business. Is there anything about the music scene that you would personally change?

It’s true that it’s very different, but luckily it’s beginning to change. Music is becoming more and more accessible due to social media/blogs etc. People are also aware and open to new concepts and music. A few years ago an independent artist without a major label would have struggled to make a name for themselves, this is less of the case now.

Any new or upcoming artists on your radar? Who shouldn’t the world sleep on?

Poté – certainly worth checking out!

What can we expect from you in the near future? Any upcoming projects or gigs in the pipeline that you would like to tell us about?

Our debut album releases in October this year!

One last thought to leave your fans with?

“Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for Music” – Sergei Rachmaninov

Follow Jaffna:

 Facebook – Twitter – Soundcloud – Youtube – Instagram – Spotify